President Viewpoint: An agenda for growing Pittsburgh’s innovation economy

Considerations for growing and supporting Pittsburgh’s innovation economy outlined in Pittsburgh Business Times’ viewpoint by RIDC President Donald Smith.

“Pittsburghers have every right to be proud of our economic turnaround, the growth we’ve seen in technology jobs and the reputation we’ve achieved as a center of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. But with about 3,000 jobs in our region currently in the autonomous vehicle field, we are in the early innings of a very fluid game.

“Will we take the steps necessary to grow this sector, or will we let inertia take over and lose out to regions that are competing aggressively for these companies and jobs? Are we prepared to set an ambitious goal of 10,000 jobs and implement a proactive plan to achieve it? Can we honestly analyze our successes and failures to date, our strengths and vulnerabilities and move forward in ways that give us a competitive edge?”